SREB’s Powerful Literacy Instructional Practices help teachers build meaningful, literacy-based assignments that align with standards and engage students in deeper learning.

When fully integrated into planning, instruction and assessment, these practices create literacy-based classrooms that are built on deep student understanding rather than coverage of material.

What Do the Practices Look Like?

Our Powerful Literacy Instructional Practices Rubric offers examples of teacher and student behaviors and learning artifacts found in classrooms that embrace these practices:

1. The literacy-based assignment includes an authentic written product in which students cite evidence from reading complex texts that are aligned to the depth of knowledge of the standards.
2. The lesson sequence supports or scaffolds the learning of literacy and content standards through explicit instruction.
3. Clear and measurable learning targets are established and communicated to the students and assessed by the teacher.
4. Literacy strategies or mini-tasks involving reading, writing, speaking and/or listening are embedded into lessons to support the learning of skills and content.
5. Student discourse is integrated to support student ownership of learning.
6. Formative and summative assessments are used in all aspects of the learning process.

Customizable Design and Delivery

We offer professional learning support that is never one-size-fits-all.

SREB’s leadership and instructional coaches partner with district- and school-based leaders to conduct an initial curriculum and instruction review or consultation to inform the scope and sequence of a customized professional learning plan.

In a typical implementation, districts or schools undertake a cycle of professional learning and face-to-face or virtual coaching. After each cycle, SREB’s coaches work with school leaders to review and revise the professional learning plan based on classroom observations, teacher and principal conversations, and other data.

Our approach builds capacity and sustainability by developing local expertise to spread the practices to new and existing teachers.